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Roger Pepper
Roger Pepper earned his living as a humble first mate on a merchant ship sailing out of Barlovia. Pepper served under a despotic captain, a man who felt that the only thing that kept any sailor from wallowing in a life of ale and prostitutes was the liberal application of the cat o' nine tails. Though Pepper, as an officer and a gentleman, was spared the worst of his captain's wrath, he (along with the rest of the crew) grew to hate the tyrant. Finally, after the captain had a crew member flogged to death for not carrying out an order quickly enough to suit the captain, Pepper and the crew decided they had had enough. Pepper, along with the ship's quartermaster, Bella Glynn, the ship's cook, and several other crew members, staged a mutiny and murdered the captain. Knowing that they would be hanged for their crimes if they continued on their current course, the crew turned to piracy instead. Pepper was named captain of the ship, newly re-christened the Revenge. Though many pirates had come before him, Pepper had one key advantage over them: the same merchants that trained his prey had also trained him in naval combat. Most of the earlier pirates, even the captains, had simply been disaffected sailors with little in the way of training. Pepper, however, knew the tactics of the ships he would be hunting, and he put that knowledge to good use. Rather than rely solely upon closing and boarding with his quarry, Pepper trained his men to be crack shots with the ballistae and catapults mounted on the Revenge. Once his ship sailed within firing range of its target, Pepper would send up his personal standard, a variant of the traditional black "plague" flag that added a fearsomely grinning skull and crossed bones. The Revenge would then fire off a devastating broadside, doing as much damage as possible to the prize ship while Pepper used his sailing prowess to evade return fire from the prize. Once the ships closed and boarding began, Pepper would position snipers in the rigging, armed with crossbows, to target enemy officers in hopes of sowing confusion. Before long, all but the most heavily armed ships would surrender when they saw the "Jolly Roger" snapping in the wind. Pepper was not content to simply be the most feared pirate on the seas, however. The wealth he had already attained had fired his imagination: if he could get so rich with one ship, imagine what he could do with a hundred! Merchant vessels breathed a sigh of relief when, after three years of marauding, Pepper seemed to vanish. Rumors circulated in ports across the world that the famed and feared Roger Pepper was dead or retired. Pepper was neither, however; he was merely turning his attentions elsewhere. He spent seven months seeking out and meeting with other pirate captains, trying to convince them to join under his banner. Through a clever combination of diplomacy, thinly veiled threats, and the occasional cracked skull, Pepper gradually brought the other pirates to his way of thinking. It was around this time that Pepper enslaved many of the primitive natives who inhabited the Attamat Islands. He forced them to build walled port towns where his ships could dock to repair and re-supply. Amazingly enough, Pepper's wildly ambitious scheme paid off. By collecting a percentage of all the profit made by the pirates in his service (in exchange for safe harbors, repairs, and markets in which to sell their ill-gotten goods), Pepper made a vast fortune without ever putting himself at risk. The legendary Roger Pepper died in bed at the age of 75, quite probably wealthier than many of the rulers of the city-states he robbed. Rumors persist that Pepper's ghost still haunts his personal castle, guarding his treasure, but this is pure nonsense. Pepper died a content man, and his spirit had no reason to linger. Category:Inhabitants Category:Born in 1270 Category:Died in 1345 Category:Men Category:Pirates Category:Deceased People Category:No Photo